Well, garçons, does we order a pizza or does one o’ you want to try out your hand in the kitchen?” George Broussard asked as he stood in front of the fire station’s refrigerator, taking grim inventory of the sparse contents. Aunt Aggie usually brought her own groceries when she cooked for them.
“Guess we can do what every other fireman in the country has to do and learn how to cook,” Mark suggested.
Dan thought that over for a moment. “Pizza,” he said finally. “Maybe Stan will wake up and be okay, and Aggie’ll be back cooking for us by supper.”
“What a selfish thought,” Slater Finch accused. Then with a grin, he added, “You think it could happen?”
The five firefighters, who’d spent most of the morning fighting a fire over at Barker’s Furniture Store and had worked up some fierce appetites, erupted into a round of chuckles, but the amusement quickly faded as they seemed to collectively realize that they were laughing at their friend’s expense. Stan Shepherd could really die.
“Anybody called the hospital in the last hour?” Dan asked.
Mark got up and got a glass down from the cabinet. “I just talked to Allie. She called and was told that he’s still in the coma.”
“Man,” Slater said. “This is so bizarre. Anybody talked to Celia? She must be a wreck.”
Dan looked around, but no one seemed to know anything, except maybe Mark, who didn’t meet anyone’s eye.
“She’s probably still at the hospital. Poor kid probably hasn’t had a wink of sleep,” Slater continued.
Dan didn’t comment.
They heard the side door open, and hoping it was Aunt Aggie, everyone got up to see. Nick Foster, the pastor of Calvary Bible Church and a fellow firefighter scheduled to come on duty tonight, hurried in. “Hey, guys,” he said.
Disappointed, most of them sat back down.
“Was it something I said?”
“No, not you,” Dan said. “We were kind of hoping you were Aunt Aggie.”
“Hungry, huh? I don’t think she’ll be coming today. Not until this thing with Celia is cleared up.”
Mark and Dan jerked their eyes up to his, warning him to shut up, but it was too late.
“What thing with Celia?” Slater asked.
Silence fell over the room as the men who didn’t know looked around at the eyes of those who seemed to. “Nick, what you’re talkin’ about?” George asked, closing the refrigerator with a jolt.
It was evident that Nick knew he’d spoken out of turn, and he looked from Dan to Mark, then back to George. “Uh…nothing. I meant…”
“Celia’s sick, too?” George asked.
“No. She’s just…upset. You know.”
Slater narrowed his eyes and got slowly to his feet. “Are they suspectin’ that Celia did this?”
“No, I’m sure they don’t. It’s just routine.”
Dan rolled his eyes. The pastor was trying to tap-dance his way out of it. Dan felt sorry for him. It wasn’t easy being a bivocational shepherd, and in a small town like this it was hard to know what was confidential and what was common knowledge. Nick would be beating himself up for days.
“So is Celia in jail?”
Dan decided to speak up, for he had talked to Jill earlier and knew they had let her go. “No, she’s not in jail. Don’t go getting all excited about this. They just questioned her about it. But there’s no evidence that she knew a thing about it. Jill’s got them testing his coffee cup at work and taking food samples from the cafe he stopped at on his way out of town yesterday, and she’s even got them searching Celia’s parents’ house in Jackson since Stan was there yesterday.”
George sat slowly down in his seat. “You know, I gotta say I waked up more’n once durin’ the night thinkin’ how she knowed it was arsenic. How did she know?”
There was dead silence from Nick, Dan, and Mark. Finally, Mark spoke up. “It’s probably going to hit the paper tonight,” he said. “So I’ll tell y’all, but I expect you to keep it under your hats. Got it?”
They all agreed.
“It turns out Celia was married before, and her first husband was poisoned to death. Arsenic. Now, that doesn’t mean—”
“She killed her first husband?” George asked on a whisper.
“No!” Dan said. “See what you’ve done, Mark? She was acquitted.”
“Did Stan know about this?” Slater asked.
“She said he did,” Mark told him.
“Course, we won’t know for sure till he wakes up,” Slater pointed out.
“Look what you’re doing!” Dan got up, angry. “You guys know Celia. You know she wouldn’t do a thing like that. Already you’re doubting her.”
“Dan, what we really know about her?” the big Cajun asked. “Arrybody knows she ain’t been in town that long.”
“She’s been here longer than you have! What do you want?”
“But I growed up here,” George defended. “I knew most arrybody.”
“And she came so mysteriously,” Slater added. “Nobody knew nothin’ about her except that she was Aggie’s niece.”
“That was enough! We all know and trust Aunt Aggie. And besides, Celia was a sweet, soft-spoken, gentle woman, and most of us liked her instantly.”
“That had a lot to do with the fact that she’s one of the prettiest gals in town,” Slater said. “But for all we know, she could have been a cold-blooded murderer with a pretty face. For all Stan knew, either. And now look at ’im.”
Nick intervened. “Guys, please. You can’t burn her at the stake before you even hear all the facts. Celia’s got a sweet heart, and it isn’t capable of murder. You know it, and I know it.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Dan said bitterly. “It makes juicy gossip, so they’re going to run with it. If she gets hurt in the process, who cares, right, Slater?”
Slater swung around, red faced. “Yeah, Nichols? I guess you’re just feelin’ all superior because you had inside knowledge. Is Jill representin’ her?”
“As a matter of fact she is. And I don’t have inside knowledge. I just happened to be outside last night when Celia was brought in. I knew better than to say anything.”
“Come on,” Nick said in a sterner voice. “That’s enough. We don’t need this!” He turned to George, then to Mark and Dan, members of his church, all of whom seemed to be seething for one reason or another. “Celia is our sister. She’s part of our congregation. She needs our prayers, not our indictments.”
“Then she has been indicted?” Slater asked.
Dan wanted to hit him. “No, you fool, she hasn’t, so why don’t you just keep your mouth shut about it?”
Nick moaned as Slater got up, and the pastor reached out and grabbed the back of Slater’s collar before he could react to Dan’s fighting words. “Stop it, both of you!” he shouted. “We’re coworkers here, and Dan, you should know better. I’m disappointed in you!”
Dan didn’t like being treated like a child, so he just turned and headed out of the room. Behind him, he could hear Slater cursing his back.